Wyong trainer Kim Waugh has celebrated a two state-double within the space of 15 minutes when Oxford Poet scored his first win in a year at Doomben.
Oxford Poet ($3.90) was given the run of the race by Damian Browne before beating Inz’N’Out ($3.50) by a neck in the Spring Racing @ BRC Open Handicap (1350m) on Saturday.
Minutes earlier, Waugh’s Shiraz had won the Listed Winter Challenge (1500m) at Rosehill.
Oxford Poet had not won since taking the Winter Stakes at Rosehill in July 2016 after which he finished second in that year’s Winter Challenge.
But he had been struggling for form and Waugh decided to send him north to find a weaker field and boost the gelding’s confidence.
Browne said Oxford Poet would go back to NSW on Sunday.
“Kim will have to decide whether to head to Sydney or come back here but Oxford Poet might get a bit of weight here now,” Browne said.
“He is a nice, big horse who handled the 58.5kg today. Kim does a great job with her horses and he was able to get into a perfect trail today.”
Earlier, trainer Robert Heathcote showed that working on holiday could pay dividends when Ingeegoodbee ($11) won the NFIA Class 3 Plate (1600m).
Heathcote, who arrived home from a European holiday on Friday, watched Ingeegoodbee’s last start from his hotel in Sicily.
“Ingeegoodbee finished third in that race but should have won. I told Ronnie (jockey Stewart) to have a look at the video and ride him for luck in the straight,” Heathcote said.
“He did just that and he would not have won going around them.”
Brisbane Race Club chairman Neville Bell also had a happy homecoming from a European holiday when Meet And Greet ($3.60) took the Smirnoff Pride Handicap (1600m).
Bell bred Meet And Greet, who is by his stallion Champions Gallery out of She’s Neat, making him a half-brother to Bell’s former stayer Candice.
“We have been waiting to get him in a 1600-metre race from a good barrier and now he has won the last QTIS bonus race of the season,” Bell said.
